Phone Wars

[bAuHaUs]

Very nice. I'm still trying to figure out how to get good panoramic shots with the Galaxy S.

Should be the same as the Dare (Galaxy S is made by LG right?)... so what I do is ensure that the first photo ends at a landmark/object in the frame that's easily picked out on the left-side of the second photo frame, and the same for the third photo. This way when the software stitches the 3 images together it's as seemless as possible (and looks like one single shot). I bet it would be very difficult for someone to pick out the two seam lines on the photo above.

 

[wonderboy416]

bAuHaUs, Galaxy S is made by Samsung, not LG. Samsung has their own in house optics division and a complete line of commercial cameras which one might think would lead to a better cell phone camera in their phones since they're not using off the shelf parts like most competitors (ahem.. apple...).

I thought I'd share some pics I took with my Galaxy S today from my neighborhood (Gangnam Station). Since this is URBAN Toronto I thought some might appreciate seeing them. The night shots aren't so great but I was holding the camera freely without any support. I'd love to take some of these buildings back home with me when I finally move back to Toronto


This is right outside my building (I live in an office-tel which is a mix of commercial and residential use units - quite common in Korea).

I am just in love with this building. On a grander scale (60+ stories) I think this design would be one of the most iconic structures on the planet.

This one is under construction and sits right next to the one above...

An amusement park from across a small lake.

A really cool hookah bar with a very trippy decor. These are all over the place in Seoul and have a wide array of different themes. This one is kinda 70's on acid.

A few days ago in overcast conditions.

And one from Insa-Dong.

 

[syn]

Nice pics wonderboy. Quite good for a camera phone. I didn't realize you were still in Korea; you must really be enjoying yourself.

 

[ganjavih]

WB, I'm impressed that you can get night shots like that without a tripod. Maybe I'm doing something wrong.

To answer your earlier question, I didn't get an extra battery with my Bell Galaxy S. Woulda been nice since heavy use really eats up the battery.

I'm lovin' this puppy more and more each day. I recently installed some Montreal STM apps to help plan trips around the city with ease. And some of the new 3D games are impressive on that 4" screen. How has your luck been with panoramas? Mine turn out blurry. A shame that it only uses 0.3MP.

 

[ganjavih]

I think I figured out the problem. I was panning across too quickly. A slow pan gives better results.

 

[dt_toronto_geek]

Android outsells the iPhone globally last quarter (Q2) and gets hit with it's first Trojan virus

Head-to-head: iPhone 4 vs. Droid X

Smartphone camera battle: iPhone 4 vs. Android

 

[urbandreamer]

Has anyone signed a Chat r contract? I don't own a cell phone (I did once, way back before everyone had them) currently and saw the chat r campaign on the ttc. My take is that of all the cheap plans, since Rogers is here to stay, it will be around the longest. Which discount brand is the best?

(I wish they made a basic version of the iphone--ie, no camera, no music player, just a phone/txt machine with internet access.)

 

[AlvinofDiaspar]

ud:

That won't save you much - the two cameras in iPhone 4 costs $10 bucks total - most of the other components essential to the functioning of the phone (touchscreen, processor, memory, battery, wi-fi system) constitute the majority of the manufacturing costs.

http://www.iphonedownloadblog.com/2010/06/29/iphone-4-parts-cost-187-51/

Just got my iPhone 4 - will post day and dusk pics when I get around to it. Pretty happy with it so far.

AoD

 

[dt_toronto_geek]

Just got my iPhone 4 - will post day and dusk pics when I get around to it. Pretty happy with it so far.

AoD

I'm green with envy as I'm locked in with the 3GS until next spring. I guess I can look forward to upgrading to iPhone 5 but that seems so far away.

 

[wonderboy416]

Hmm... nice move Apple.
http://news.cnet.com/8301-13579_3-20014356-37.html?tag=cnetRiver

How a company thinks it has the right to control (and destroy) something a consumer owns and has purchased with their own money is beyond me. If they're that worried about piracy of apps they're in the wrong business. They've built an empire of ipods that are for the most part playing illegally downloaded music, they don't seem to be complaining about that right? Well I'm sure they'd love to ditch the mp3 format for something they can have better control over.

What if an Iphone user wants say... I dunno such a basic feature as seeing missed calls, texts and any other pertinent info that appears on the screen of every single other smartphone on the market when it's locked? Well now they don't want to let you do that even. My strong dislike for that company just grew larger.

I'm still curious to see those Iphone 4 snaps tho, post em up

 

[AlvinofDiaspar]

dt_to_geek:

I'm green with envy as I'm locked in with the 3GS until next spring. I guess I can look forward to upgrading to iPhone 5 but that seems so far away.

I wasn't planning to get it but the 6GB/$30 deal is just a bit too good to pass up (wouldn't have bothered upgrading to a smartphone with those dinky 500MB plans). Pure luck that I was able to get hold of one right away - guess my lucky stars were all lined up that day. I've heard rumours of a refresh coming sooner than the usual cycle, and that Apple is holding back the manufacturing in order to fix that antenna issue - which I must say isn't one for me.

re: Galaxy S/Super AMOLED

I think it uses pentile format - which is basically a kind of dithering.

Android vs. iOS

I guess it's depends on one's preference. There are benefits to an open ecosystem - lower price, (eventually) more apps - but you also know that the issues that plagued PC will eventually crop up as well (e.g. incompatiabilities, etc). I just want my phone to work without having to mess around with it, and having to deal with a process manager is just one example that I think as a personal preference, as to what a mobile device shouldn't be about

Good article from WIRED that in many way touches what's going on in the "bigger picture":

http://www.wired.com/magazine/2010/08/ff_webrip/all/1

AoD

 

[dt_toronto_geek]

dt_to_geek:

I wasn't planning to get it but the 6GB/$30 deal is just a bit too good to pass up (wouldn't have bothered upgrading to a smartphone with those dinky 500MB plans). Pure luck that I was able to get hold of one right away - guess my lucky stars were all lined up that day. I've heard rumours of a refresh coming sooner than the usual cycle, and that Apple is holding back the manufacturing in order to fix that antenna issue - which I must say isn't one for me.

Ironically I was holding off on the next gen. iPhone too but one hell of a deal came up that I found on the iPhone in Canada website and I couldn't resist the promotion. $54 a month incl. taxes for the 16GB 3GS with a talk & text plan that suited me perfectly, so I jumped at it.